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Sunday, July 27, 2014

I admit I love making cards, but I adore making small paper-boxes... boxes and purses and bags and you name it . Paper all, this is all about . Is this something known as addictive and nobody told me before :D ?

So, a show of some boxes... in ascending order of dimension :
-the mini ones ;) :

then the girly-party ( or as christening gifts )

this model cand hold a large variety of sweets from Gifts & Gifts . Some examples :

then I changed the colours but not the size of the box. I think that small and pretty is supreme.

And, as a plus of value, I added my paper flowers that I love so much .

Friday, July 18, 2014

Do you remember my awfully blue fingers from yesterday photos ? well, I will reveal now the cause .
Next a tutorial for making a crumpled paper flower punched with Stampin'Up flower blossom punch . Something different than just layering the petals one on top the other. This is how I make this flower :

then spray them with a water-coloured mist of your choice ( mine is diy , kind of home-made LOL ) .

Use for spraying a box that will help you catch all the drops and save your worktable . Put a white paper ( or recycled one ) on the back and bottom. Later you'll can use this paper in some mixed media project or anything else that requires some crazyness in it ;) . Don't worry about the curling effect, they will become flat quickly . You have to turn the petals to spray them on both sides.

With them still damp, start folding, once, twice , three times. You'll get it quite quickly how to fold, holding the paper in you hands. Now you'll understand why I get blue fingers. LOL.

I'll keep in mind to use some doctor gloves next time . Hope to remember....

When you get to have just one petal by folding, start crumpling it between your fingers. Like so :

Then dare more : twist it ! Carefully to not break the paper, it is still wet.

Let them dry completely as they are , twisted.

They will dry slowly, don't rush them or you can get all wrong.

Once they are completely dry and crispy, start unfolding them with great care. Try not to flatten too much the pieces, you want to achieve a crumpled/wrinkled look.

With the help of a scoring tool and some tweezers start layering them as you pleased. The opened one on the base layer, the others up. Put some strong wet glue between the layers to keep them all secure .

You can add in the middle a smaller shape worked in the same manner . The fuller, the beautiful . Like this :

A small pearl in the center makes it finished. Or you can add something else : a button, some paper-flakes, small beads glued together, anything you fancy. I prefer simple with one pearl.

Cut and work from the beginning many punched shapes so you'll have in the end several flowers. Of course, you can make small flowers in the same manner with a smaller punch. The smaller, the painstaking. LOL.

Now that you have a beautiful crumpled flower, you should put it on something, no ?

I made a box, I think I felt in love with small, cute boxes. Candies boxes. Or candy boxes ? :D

Did I sparkle your desire for making such a flower ? if yes, will you show me your result ? I'll be more than happy to get some feedback from you.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Please forgive my blue colored fingers showed durig these images, they are due to a previous tutorial - still in work. That will follow soon ;)

So, perhaps many of you knows how to make a flower from a recycled coffee filter. This post is to show you my way and also to demonstrate the others that a handmade flower ( recycled or not ) means A LOT OF WORK and TIME. Just to understand....

If YOU will make ,or already made, such a RECYCLED flower, you have all my appreciation . Because recycling is a good manner to demonstrate that you care about your life. For now and for the future.

Let's start :

Take a used coffee filter. I mean really used. ;)

please try not to lick your fingers. LOL

wash it thoroughly and put it to dry

once it's dried, cut some flower shapes with the BigShot dies that comes in the standard package. Nothing fancy. You can try to use a punch but I was not successful with that . I don't recommend using a punch on the coffee-filter. Fold the filter in half and run it through the machine. You'll get 8 pieces from one filter . Just enough for one flower. 8 petals. Don't throw away your filter. You can cut something more from it .

Now cut the same shape but this time from a heavy cardstock.

Recycled , of course, what did you think ?

This piece is the support for distressing the petal edges. Each petal you will set up on the cardstock and with a sponge dauber ( also a diy one from a bottle cap and some old dishwashing sponges ) distress the edges ( I choose vintage gold this time )

Gather all of your petals and with a piercing tool make a hole trough the center.

Now you have to gather all the petals with something : a brad or .... a bead on some wire. I choose here to show you how I put the bead.

Push the bead until it hits the paper, then open on the back the wire legs.

Don't worry about the legs being too long, we'll cut them after the next step .

Start folding/ crumpling each petal around the bead in a completely free way. Crumple and squeeze, crumple and squeeze....until the last one petal, included.

You'll get a ...bud. Now it's time to undo all that you have done previously. Yes, I know. LOL .

Start to spread out petal by petal until you are pleased with the form obtained. A fluffy flower.

If you un-fluff it more, you'll see the glimpse of the bead in the center, otherwise it is quite well hidden. ;)

Now let's take care about those long wire legs from the back of the flower. Cut them according to your flower bottom. With a jewelry plier/snipper ( don't use your scissors for this, ok ? !! :) )

To hide them properly and also to make a base for gluing the flower onto anything else, you''ll cut a circle from the scraps of the left filter . Remember ? I told you not to throw it away ...